VALEDICTORY   ADDRESS 


L.  H.  JONES 


SUPERINTENDENT   OF   INSTRUCTION 


CLEVELAND   PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


DELIVERED 


Saturday,  September  6,  1902, 


GRAYS'    ARMORY, 
CLEVELAND,  O. 


PUBLISHED   BY  THE   BOARD  OF   EDUCATION. 


VALEDICTORY  ADDRESS 


L.  H.  JONES 

SUPERINTENDENT   OF   INSTRUCTION 


CLEVELAND   PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


DELIVERED 


Saturday,  September  6,  1902, 


GRAYS'    ARMORY, 
CLEVELAND,  O. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  BOARD  or  EDUCATION. 


DEDICATED  TO 

The  Teachers  of  Cleveland,  who  have  so  loyally 
and  intelligently  striven,  sometimes  under  ad- 
verse circumstances,  to  realise  in  practice  the 
suggestions  I  have  made  during  our  pleasant 
comradeship  in  the  Public  Schools  of  this  City. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


2065653 


VALEDICTORY  ADDRESS 


In  assuming  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Instruction  in  the 
public  schools  of  Cleveland,  which  I  did  eight  years  ago,  I  felt  an 
overwhelming  sense  of  responsibility.  I  have  always  had  an  in- 
tense passion  for  teaching;  and  in  my  earlier  experience  I  found  my 
complete  satisfaction  in  immediate  contact  with  children  in  the  teach- 
ing process.  As  the  years  went  by  my  duties  called  me  into  the 
work  of  supervision,  with  wider  opportunities  to  observe  the  work  of 
others  and  greater  necessity  to  think  upon  the  principles  which  un- 
derlie the  art  of  teaching.  As  I  have  seen  myself  change  from  the 
thoughtless,  reckless  expenditure  of  effort  into  the  more  skillful  and 
efficient  teacher,  I  'have  tried  to  keep  in  mind  the  causes  which  helped 
me,  that  I  might  at  some  time  assist  others  in  the  more  complete  mas- 
tery of  their  own  powers.  During  the  eighteen  years  of  my  experi- 
ence as  Superintendent  of  city  schools,  I  have  tried  to  gather  these 
helpful  ideas  into  a  theory  or  ideal  of  Education  that  should  be  reas- 
onable, sane,  hopeful,  possible  and  inspiring.  In  the  years  I  have 
been  wi-fli  you  I  have  given  free  expression  to  this  ideal  of  education, 
by  piecemeal,  of  course,  as  circumstances  made  it  possible  for  me  to 
do  so,  and  together  you  and  I  have  worked  in  happy  comradeship  to- 
ward its  realization.  It  has  always  been  a  glad  privilege  for  mo  to 
turn  away  from  the  selfseekcr,  who  pressed  his  private  claims  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  a  taxpayer  and  controlled  the  votes  of  his  ward, 
and  to  come  among  you,  whose  only  motto  is  "I  serve,"  and  with 
whom  I  could  actually  converse  upon  those  phases  of  human  motive 
and  action  that  lift  us  above  the  common  herd  and  give  dignity  ana 
reason  and  hope  to  human  life. 


In  laying  down  the  burdens  of  my  office  I  feel  keenly  the  sever- 
ing of  my  companionship  with  you;  and  the  sense  of  relief  which 
came  at  first  with  my  decision  to  go  away  was  quickly  followed  by 
the  pangs  of  coming  separation  from  you  who  have  bravely  and  loy- 
ally answered  every  call  and  responded  to  every  demand  upon  your 
time  and  strength  in  the  attempt  to  realize  the  ideals  of  school  work 
which  I  'have  brokenly  and  somewhat  imperfectly  placed  before  you. 
But  some  things  are  secure  because  they  are  settled  forever.  Where- 
ever  I  may  go  and  whatever  happens  to  me  after  today,  it  always  will 
be  a  proud  memory  to  me  that  I  have  lived  with  you  for  eight  years  in 
such  close  contact  of  mind  and  heart  that  you  have  known  my  inner- 
most motives  and  purposes,  and  that  in  the  end  you  have  not  de- 
serted me  nor  disowned  me. 

This  occasion  has  seemed  an  opportune  time  for  me  in  closing 
my  official  connection  with  the  schools  of  Cleveland  to  re-affirm  and 
re-impress  some  of  the  vital  elements  of  the  doctrine  and  practice  of 
•education  which  I  have  tried  to  outline  since  I  have  been  with  you. 
In  so  doing  I  must  select  a  few  points  only,  and  by  treating  these,  im- 
ply (somewhat  the  spirit,  at  least,  in  which  all  else  connected  with 
school  work  should  be  considered. 

It  has  been  my  purpose  ever  since  I  came  among  you  to  teach  a 
theory  of  education  based  on  a  belief  in  the  essential  nobleness  and  pos- 
sible worthiness  of  every  human  being  born  into  the  world.  It  is  not 
the  unworthy  actual  but  the  noble  possible  that  has  inspiration  in  it.  The 
unworthy  actual  may  furnish  reasons  for  reform,  but  it  is  the  contem- 
plation of  the  noble  possible  that  gives  to  the  reformer  his  enthusiasm. 
The  misery  of  degradation  may  drive  us  to  seek  remedies ;  but  it  is  the 
glory  of  what  we  may  be,  shining  like  a  halo  about  us,  that  gives  us 
light  and  guidance.  For  'these  reasons  I  have  tried,  without  disguis- 
ing the  facts,  which  are  oftimes  discouraging  enough,  to  teach  a 
theory  of  education  that  is  hopeful  and  helpful,  rather  than  to  put  in 
my  time  bewailing  the  present  situation,  as  many  do,  without  suggest- 
ing any  possible  changes  for  the  better.  You  sometimes  hear  people 
say  they  have  no  use  for  ideals  or  theories — they  wish  only  the  prac- 


tical — which  in  most  cases  with  them  means  the  power  to  reproduce 
the  actual.  "Consider  for  a  moment  what  would  be  the  situation  of  the 
world  if  all  the  people  were  suddenly  bereft  of  the  power  to  conceive 
of  things  as  different  from  what  they  now  are.  If  one  could  not  con- 
ceive of  anything  different  how  could  one  make  effort  to  realize  any- 
thing different?  An  ideal  of  some  sort,  i.e.,  a  conception  of  some- 
thing different  from  what  now  is,  is  an  absolute  necessity  for  the  di- 
rection of  effort.  Otherwise,  so  far  as  human  effort  is  concerned  it 
would  be  the  chance  world  over  again.  I  firmly  believe  that  God  has 
so  framed  the  world  and  the  Universe  ethically  that  even  without  the 
help  of  man  the  final  trend  of  things  is  for  the  better.  But  He  has  also 
made  the  mind  of  man  capable  of  helping  Him  with  the  world's  work, 
not  because  God  needs  help,  but  because  man  needs  to  be  permitted 
to  help.  It  is  this  sense  of  co-operation  with  God  in  His  work  that 
reveals  to  man  that  he  really  is  created  in  the  image  of  God  and  may 
become  worthy  of  the  companionship  of  the  Divine  Being.  To  do 
this  worthily  he  must  conceive  the  great  ends  of  life  and  be  able  to 
seem  to  see  conditions  of  life  far  above  the  actual.  It  is  this  power  to 
idealize  life  and  to  see  forces  and  agencies  at  work  transforming  the 
world,  that  marks  the  difference  between  the  great  teacher  and  the  one 
who  is  satisfied  with  the  actual,  and  settles  down  to  go  through  the 
routine  form  of  preserving  the  present  order  of  things.  The  latter  is 
a  mechanical  teacher,  while  the  former  projects  into  his  teaching  a 
tonic  effect  that  strengthens  and  ennobles  every  act  of  his  school  work. 
Our  ideals  thus  become  our  profoundest  belief;  until,  at  last,  we  cease 
•to  talk  glibly  about  them  and  are  willing  to  risk  deliberate  action  upon 
them.  Then  they  become  working  ideals.  I  have  tried  to  make  you 
believe  so  strongly  in  these  ideals  of  the  nobility  of  human  nature  that 
you  would  be  willing  to  leave  the  safe  anchorage  of  the  sheltered 
nooks  of  inactive  routine,  and  sail  out  into  the  great  ocean  of  human 
endeavor,  assured  that  you  have  on  board  a  correct  chart  of  the  waters 
and  a  compass  that  will  not  deceive  you;  and  that  you  may  at  any 
time  determine  your  own  bearings  and  direct  your  own  course  with- 
out hailing  every  passing  ship  for  doubtful  information.  I  have  never 


tried  to  impose  my  ideal  upon  you,  but  rather  to  show  you  the  ele- 
ments of  truth  out  of  which  each  of  you,  guided  by  your  own  experi- 
ence, and  from  your  own  point  of  view  may  construct  your  own  ideal, 
which  will  in  its  turn  become  a  perennial  force  within  you  enabling 
you  to  press  forward  toward  its  realization.  I  have  tried  to  make  you 
so  enamored  of  some  of  these  elements  of  truth  that  you  would  not 
omit  them  from  your  ideals.  Had  I  simply  put  forward  my  own  be- 
lief, without  engaging  your  interest,  and  then  demanded  that  you 
realize  my  ideal,  I  should  merely  have  laid  down  the  law  by  command, 
rather  than  have  given  inspiration  and  help.  So  I  have  "tried  never  to 
say,  "Go  and  do  this  or  that,"  but  rather,  "Come,  let  us  do  this  to- 
gether in  joyous  companionship."  Whenever  a  teacher  imposes  his 
ideal  upon  a  pupil  as  law,  without  explanation,  without  comradeship 
of  any  kind,  without  emotion  or  sympathy,  he  treats  the  child  as  dead 
matter  rather  than  as  a  living  soul.  Only  when  the  teacher  implants 
within  the  child  the  germ  of  an  ideal,  that  it  may  develop  with  the 
child's  development,  grow  with  his  growth,  become  a  part  of  his  own 
character,  and  remain  in  him  and  with  him  as  motive  to  action  long 
after  the  teacher  has  disappeared,  does  he  recognize  the  nature  of  the 
child  as  a  human  being  or  understand  the  nature  of  ideals  as  motive 
and  inspiration.  Just  so  sure  as  thought  and  feeling  are  the  springs  of 
action,  our  ideals  of  education,  whether  they  be  meager  and  restrict- 
ing, or  broad  and  genet ous,  direct  and  determine  our  teaching;  and  if 
our  ideal  of  human  possibility  is  low  our  efforts  are  directed  on  a  low 
level,  but  if  our  ideal  of  human  possibility  includes  the  human  being 
so  morally  noble  that  he  may  be  a  helpful  comrade  to  his  fellows  and 
a  fit  companion  for  divinity  our  efforts  will  be  directed  correspond- 
ingly high.  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  must  be  within  us  before  we  can 
by  divine  contagion  start  it  in  another's  mind.  But  a  true  ideal  of  ed- 
ucation has  not  only  this  element  of  worthiness  as  its  final  aim  in  per- 
fected manhood  or  womanhood,  but  it  must  contain  a  true  conception 
of  child  nature  and  the  steps  by  which  the  child  with  possibilities  be- 
comes the  perfected  character  of  mature  development.  I  cannot  take 
lime  to  treat  this  at  length,  shall  in  fact  be  obliged  to  treat  it  with  a 


passing  reference  only.  But  this  one  thing  I  have  tried  to  teach — that 
the  child  is  essential  activity — embodied  self-activity — on  the  way  to 
self-direction — and  that  whatever  processes  of  education  are  employed 
should  be  in  harmony  with  this  inherent  element  of  child  nature.  This 
whole  line  of  education,  leading  the  child  who  is  essential  self-activity 
without  inner-guidance,  on  to  the  matured  being  perfectly  and  nobly 
self-directed,  should  'be  seen  clearly  by  every  one  who  teaches  a  child 
at  any  intermediate  stage.  About  one-fourth  of  a  teacher's  study  of 
his  profession  should  be  given  to  his  particular  work,  and  about  three- 
fourths  of  it  to  getting  this  wider  outlook  which  enables  him  the  bet- 
ter to  interpret  his  special  work.  If  this  were  done  the  teacher  would 
soon  see  clearly  how  futile  it  is  to  pursue  a  course  of  education  for  a 
child  unfitted  for  his  nature,  i.  e.,  to  his  inherent,  permanent  nature. 
If,  therefore,  one  sees  that  the  end  of  education  is  spiritual  or  moral, 
the  method  of  teaching  him  even  the  smallest  thing,  like  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet,  or  spelling,  must  accord  with  this  end  and  aim  of  educa- 
tion as  well  as  with  the  very  essential  nature  of  the  child  itself.  God 
Himself  is  limited  in  this  respect  by  the  nature  He  has  implanted  in 
man,  and  by  the  end  which  He  has  set  up  for  his  education,  by  the  pos- 
sibilities He  has  put  into  His  nature.  The  infinite  Creaitor  Himself  can 
not  educate  a  self-active  being  without  securing  some  response  from 
that  individual — some  willing  co-operation  of  the  person  being  taught. 
So  in  His  great  scheme  for  the  education  of  races  and  nations,  He 
places  motives  and  ends,  and  suggests  achievements,  so  that  the  will 
of  a  great  people  is  enlisted  in  national  and  racial  enterprises.  And  so 
the  world  at  large  moves  forward  in  enlightenment  through 
self-activity  of  a  blind  kind  to  self-activity  directed  by 
purposes,  hopes  and  ideals.  Why  teachers  can  believe  -  that 
they  can  drive  children  through  unintelligent  and  uninteresting  pro- 
cesses and  have  them  as  a  result  be  self-controlling,  law-abiding,  or- 
der-loving citizens,  is  beyond  my  comprehension.  •  What  a  school 
needs  is  that  some  strong  minded,  generous  hearted  man  or  woman 
shall  come  into  it  bringing  sunshine  and  hope  and  courage,  and  that 
this  teacher  and  these  children  shall  begin  to  have  a  comradeship  in 


10 

learning,  that  together  they  shall  set  up  aims,  invent  methods  for  solu- 
tion of  problems,  together  enjoy  the  enthusiasm  of  triumph  in  which 
each  has  taken  a  voluntary  part.  Thus  will  grow  daily  in  each  child  a 
love  of  learning,  a  love  of  comradeship  in  worthy  work,  a  sense  of 
power  to  do  things,  an  enthusiasm  for  achievement,  a  distinction  be- 
tween the  noble  and  the  ignoble  and  a  power  to  control  his  own  ac- 
tions in  view  of  a  social  aim  or  some  general  good  which  will  remain 
in  him  long  after  his  teacher  has  departed,  and  will  help  to  make  of 
him  a  good  citizen.  Besides,  he  will  remember  school  time  as  part  of 
his  great  and  growing  life,  and  when  he  in  turn  becomes  the  taxpayer 
he  will  insist  that  "schools  and  the  means  of  education  be  forever  en- 
couraged." He  himself  will  see  education  as  a  process  by  which  he 
was  brought  from  unconscious  self-activity  to  conscious,  satisfying 
self-activity,  till  he  became  intelligent  enough  to  set  up  his  own  stand- 
ard and  safe  to  be  trusted  in  self-control  and  self-direction.  When  he 
has  seen  the  highest  ends  he  will  consciously  strive  to  reach  them  and 
having  seen  the  advantages  of  co-operation  with  other  minds,  having 
enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  comradeship,  he  will  join  the  forces  that  work 
for  progress;  and  soon  the  power  of  self-direction  moves  him  above 
expediency  to  the  abiding  sense  of  the  worth  of  morality.  Seeing  him- 
self a  self-active  being  raised  by  education  to  the  level  of  a  self-directed 
being,  he  easily  thinks  self-activity  infinite,  self-consciousness  without 
limitation,  and  self-direction  without  possible  interference;  and,  lo!  he 
has  conceived  a  personal  God,  to  whom  he  willingly  gives  his  heart  in 
happy  obedience.  Think  you  the  police  will  need  to  follow  him  to 
keep  him  from  a  career  of  crime  ? 

Thus  you  will  see  I  have  tried  to  teach  to  you  a  rational  theory  of 
human  life  and  destiny  as  a  foundation  for  our  school  work.  This 
gives  dignity  to  the  work  of  the  teacher,  lays  foundation  for  natural 
methods  of  procedure  in  education,  makes  the  position  of  pupil  hope- 
ful and  sets  up  an  end  of  education  that  commands  the  respect  of  all. 
Given  a  practical  working  belief  in  the  possible  nobility  of  human  kind, 
a  belief  in  the  presence  in  the  Universe  of  a  personal  God,  interested  in 
humanity,  a  belief  that  the  finite  human  being  is  really  made  in  the 


11 

image  of  God — i.  e.,  like  Him, -except  finiteness,  God's  great  ideal  the 
law  of  progress,  and  a  science  of  education  is  possible  that  will  regulate 
#he  practices  of  teaching  in  the  interest  of  pupils  in  even  the  smallest 
details  of  daily  work.  It  is  this  sort  of  view  of  life  and  human  possibil- 
ity that  makes  me  have  a  real  passion  for  teaching — a  passion  so  pow- 
erful, so  all-engrossing  as  to  crowd  out  of  sight  and  out  of  thought 
every  selfish  interest,  and  to  hold  me  to  my  chosen  work  against  all 
the  discouragements  of  the  clashing  of  self-interests  and  the  scheming 
of  small  minds.  People  who  are  evil  in  their  lives  are  so  cm'efly  be- 
cause of  ignorance — a  kind  of  ignorance — i.  e.,  they  do  not  really  know 
about  the  worth  and  beauty  of  righteousness.  If  any  one  really  likes 
evil  associates  or  evil  actions  it  is  because  he  has  never  really  seen 
heaven.  To  exemplify  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  that  is  within  you,  or 
ought  to  be  within  you,  is  your  chief  duty  as  teacher. 

But  some  one  is  already  saying,  "How  does  all  this  harmonize 
with  the  routine  and  commonplace  work  of  the  daily  program  of  re- 
quired exercises  ?'"  And  some  are,  no  doubt,  already  thinking  that  it 
is  good  theory,  but  that  it  will  not  work  in  practice,  etc.  Allow  me  to 
say  that  a  good  theory  will  always  work  out  well  in  practice.  There  is 
no  possible  conflict  between  good  theory  and  practice.  The  best  prac- 
tice is  simply  a  realization  of  the  best  theory.  If  a  theory  will  not  work 
out  in  practice  k  is  because  the  theory  is  wrong  or  no  intelligent  effort 
is  made  to  embody  it  in  practice.  It  often  happens  that  ideals  contain 
elements  that  cannot  at  once  be  wrought  out  MI  practice,  and  'hence 
realization  may  be  delayed,  but  it  is  no  fault  of  the  theory  or  ideal,  nor 
is  it  always  the  fault  of  those  who  control  the  practice.  But  even  then 
the  ideal  still  stands  as  the  possible,  and  urges  on  us  the  conditions  of 
its  fulfillment.  A  high  ideal  does  not  discourage  one  who  holds  it.  I 
distinguish  between  an  idealist  and  a  fanatic.  Fanaticism  is  only  an- 
other name  for  insanity.  But  the  true  idealist  is  one  who  sees  the  bet- 
ter possible  things  so  clearly  and  appreciates  their  beauty  so  keenly 
that  he  determines  that  they  shall  be  realized.  He  invents  ways  and 
means  and  no  one  is  more  practical  than  he.  He  has  such  a  concep- 
tion of  infinite  worth  that  he  is  possessed  with  a  serene  greatness  and 


12 

patience  of  mind  Which  he  does  not  allow  to  degenerate  into  laziness 
or  weak  resignation.  He  is  perennially  hopeful,  and  alert  to  find  new 
and  better  means  of  realizing  the  better  possible  things  and  is  never 
therefore  at  leisure  to  grumble  about  present  bad  conditions. 

During  the  eight  years  I  have  been  with  you  I  have  neither 
scolded  nor  grumbled.  Do  you  suppose  it  has  been  because  I  have 
seen  nothing  in  our  schools  that  needed  correction  ?  Do  you  suppose 
that  judged  by  the  standard  set  up  in  this  paper  and  that  your  prac- 
tices have  always  corresponded  to  the  ideal?  Nay;  I  could  have  dis- 
couraged you  many  times  by  showing  how  far  you  fell  short  of  satisfy- 
ing my  standard  of  excellence.  But  I  thought  best  to  work  otherwise. 
For  instance,  when  I  found  few  pictures  or  poor  pictures  in  your 
ischooi  rooms,  I  did  not  scold  about  it  nor  worry  you  with  my  lamen- 
tations about  it.  I  began  talking  to  you  about  good  pictures  and  in- 
venting ways  and  means  of  getting  them,  and  now  more  than  $20,000 
worth  of  good  pictures  hang  on  the  walls  of  the  schools  of  this  city. 
The  poor  pictures  have  nearly  all  gone  out  of  the  rooms,  and  yet  I 
never  asked  for  their  removal. 

As  to  the  relation  of  high  ideals  to  the  common-place  or  routine 
duties  of  daily  teaching,  allow  me  to  say  that  there  is  no  commonplace 
teaching  except  that  done  >by  a  commonplace  teacher.  If  one  has 
nothing  to  do  but  teach  that  "twice  two  are  four,"  he  ought  to  do  it  in 
such  way  that  the  eternal  verities  are  revealed  to  the  pupils.  They 
ought  to  see  that  this  truth,  twice  two  are  four  and  not  five,  or  any 
other  number,  is  akin  to  the  laws  by  which  the  planets  move  in  their 
orbits,  and  morning  succeeds  night;  and  they  ought  to  see  or  fee!  that 
this  truth  may  not  be  violated  without  moral  and  physical  anarchy. 
They  ought  to  see  or  feel  as  a  result  of  this  teaching  how  much  better 
it  is  to  live  in  a  world  in  which  light  and  darkness  are  always  distin- 
guishable, good  and  evil  always  in  contrast,  and  where  order  is  heav- 
en's first  law;  and  they  -anil  feel  all  this  if  only  their  teacher  is  inspired 
with  these  ideals  and  exemplifies  them  in  teaching. 

We  sometimes  talk  about  putting  the  whole  child  to  school.  I 
should  like  to  see  the  whole  teacher  put  into  the  school. 


13 

Hear  a  few  sentences  from  my  inaugural  address  of  eight  years 
ago: 

"The  most  hopeless  waste  in  the  world  is  the  waste  of  honest  ef- 
fort. The  competitive  struggle  almost  everywhere  visible  in  the  do- 
main of  nature  as  well  as  in  the  domain  of  man,  doubtless  has  its  value, 
resulting  in  a  rude,  blind  way,  in  the  final  survival  of  the  fittest;  but 
co-operation  is  a  still  higher  principle,  resulting  in  making  more  things 
fit  to  survive.  And  when  we  rise  from  mere  nature  into  the  domain  of 
spirit  'the  highest  ends  of  life  are  to  be  reached  only  under  friendly  co- 
operation. This  will  be  found  to  be  eminently  true  in  the  organization 
and  workings  of  a  school  system,  growing  more  and  more  so  as  the 
system  grows  larger  and  more  cumbrous.  The  competitive  struggle 
cannot  be  entirely  removed  from  among  us;  but  it  can  be  held  in 
check,  and  made  to  be  subservient  to  a  lofty  enthusiasm  and  a  noble 
school  patriotism.  It  is  part  of  the  business  of  a  superintendent  to 
.cultivate  this  school  patriotism,  to  kindle  this  lofty  enthusiasm,  and 
to  unify  and  thus  multiply  effort  among  the  teachers  of  his  school  sys- 
tem. 

i  But  if  this  unity  of  action  is  to  be  of  the  best  kind  it  must  result 
from  intelligent  choice  by  the  individual  members  of  the  teaching 
force,  rather  than  from  arbitrary  dictation  by  the  superintendent.  The 
work  of  teaching  is  of  such  delicate  nature,  involves  so  much  of  the 
spiritual,  that  it  is  rarely  well  done  by  one  who  works  under  arbitrary 
direction  It  is  the  teacher  whose  soul  is  in  it,  other  things  being 
equal,  that  .succeeds  best.  The  teacher  must  feel  that  she  is  allowed  to 
do  lu-r  work  in  such  way  as  to  preserve  her  self-respect.  To  this  end! 
each,  teacher  must  have  her  interest  enlisted,  her  intelligence  respected 
and  cultivated,  her  reason  convinced;  and  then  last,  but  not  least,  she 
must  be  held  to  do  the  best  she  can,  employing  her  best  self,  using  her 
highest  capabilities  and  exercising  her  highest  measure  of  common 
sense.  The  golden  rule  of  improvement  is  to  work  up  to  the  limit  of 
present  capability.  The  capability  itself  will  then  grow  at  a  marvelous- 
ly  rapid  rate.  It  is  the  used  talent  that  increases  tenfold.  No  superin- 
tendent can  afford,  in  the  interest  of  his  schools,  to  lay  out  a  set  of 


14 

rules  so  definite  that  it  reduces  his  teachers  to  machines,  without  inter- 
est or  responsibility.  You  need  to  remember  every  hour  tliat  you  are 
employed  as  thinking,  reasoning,  intelligent  men  and  women,  en- 
trusted with  the  dearest  interests  of  the  citizens -of  this  great  city;  and 
that  you  are  responsible  for  answering  to  this  great  trust  in  a  gener- 
ous, magnanimous,  self-respecting,  enthusiastic  devotion  to  your  pro- 
fession. It  is  not  your  intellect  alone  that  is  employed;  it  is  the  heart 
and  will  as  well — the  whole  man  or  the  whole  woman.  To  give  less  is 
to  defraud  the  children.  The  teacher  who  could  do  much,  but  persists 
in  doing  little,  is  less  valuable  than  one  who  can  do  but  little,  but  in  do- 
ing little,  does  the  best  she  can.  The  quality  of  her  work  is  better  be- 
cause she  does  the  best  she  can.  This  is  not  an  excuse  for  dull  teach- 
ers. Dull  teachers  should  be  discharged  and  capable  ones  employed 
in  their  places;  but  it  is  an  attempt  to  show  the  wonderful  power  of  de- 
votion to  transform  even  poor  work  into  good.  While  not  the  true 
philosopher's  stone,  it  possesses  alchemic  power  to  transform  all  that 
it  touches  into  truth  and  beauty.  The  first  condition,  then,  for  the  uni- 
fication and  improvement  of  our  work  lies  in  the  fact  that  each  of  us  is 
an  individual  person,  pledged  to  use  his  whole  best  self  for  the  better- 
ment of  our  work.  Each  of  us  comes  into  this  organization,  pledged 
to  enthusiastic  and  harmonious  co-operation  in  the  work  to  which  we 
have  consecrated  ourselves. 

****** 

With  the  teacher  thus  intelligently  devoted  to  her  work,  individu- 
ally responsible  for  conscientious  effort,  we  are  ready  to  talk  about  the 
organization  into  which  sihe  comes  when  she  engages  to  teach  in  a  sys- 
tem of  city  schools.  A  school  is  not  a  school-house;  it  is  not  a  house 
at  all,  in  the  sense  in  which  I  am  using  the  term.  It  is  a  spiritual  kind 
of  thing;  a  kind  of  organic  thing.  An  organic  thing  must  have  organs. 
The  school  has  two  organs.  These  are  the  teacher  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  pupil  on  the  other.  The  true  life  of  an  organism  is  the  flow  of 
influence,  mutually,  between  or  among  its  organs.  The  real  life  of  a 
school  is  the  play  and  interplay  of  spiritual  forces  between  teacher  and 
pupils.  These  spiritual  forces  are  the  powers  of  the  mind  in  the  teacher 


15 

and  the  pupils;  and  the  business  of  school  supervision  is  the  harmoniz- 
ing of  these  spiritual  forces  to  the  end  of  the  greatest  efficiency.  The 
teacher  can  think,  and  feel,  and  choose,  and  do.  The  pupils  can  think, 
and  feel,  and  do.  It  is  the  business  of  the  teacher  to  so  think,  and  feel, 
and  do,  that  she  will  incite  the  pupils  to  think,  and  feel,  and  do  rightly. 
This  is  true  teaching.  The  teacher's  thinking,  and  feeling,  and  doing 
must  be  so  carried  on  as  to  teach;  that  of  the  pupils,  so  that  they  learn. 
It  is  the  business  of  a  teacher  to  teach.  It  is  the  business  of  a  pupil  to 
learn.  What  is  sometimes  called  discipline  or  government  is  merely  a 
form  of  teaching  if  it  is  well  done.  Indeed,  if  the  teaching  be  well  done 
it  will  result  in  right  conduct  as  a  necessary  outcome.  The  school  ex- 
ists for  the  pupil  and  not  for  the  teacher.  The  teacher  teaches  that  the 
pupil  may  learn.  The  first  outcome  of  learning  is  scholarship,  but  the 
highest  is  conduct.  No  pupil  has  really  learned  his  lesson  till  it  has 
touched  his  intellect  and  his  feelings  and  his  will,  and  has  been  trans- 
formed by  training  into  habitual  tendency  toward  right  conduct. 

The  money  paid  to  the  teacher  is  partially  squandered  if  it  does 
not  result  in  a  higher  and  more  self-respecting  grade  of  citizenship  in 
the  pupils.  The  great  question,  then,  with  all  of  us  is  to  learn  how  to 
teach  for  the  best  results.  Teaching  is  a  matter  of  degrees.  Good 
teaching  can  be  improved  and  made  better  by  study  and  practice;  but 
the  ideal  best  teaching  is  so  far  in  advance  that  if  we  put  forth  even' 
"effort  we  can  never  hope  to  reach  it.  The  ideal  always  keeps  in  front 
and  above.  We  need  to  turn  ourselves  into  a  great  school  and  study 
how  to  improve  our  teaching.  There  is  no  danger  that  we  shall  learn 
to  do  it  too  well." 

This  is  the  high  ideal  that  I  set  up  before  you  eight  years  ago  and 
that  I  have  tried  ever  since  to  help  you  realize.  An  ideal  like  this  dig- 
nifies our  calling.  It  is  common  in  some  quarters  to  sneer  at  high 
ideals  in  our  profession  and  to  claim  that  there  is  no  Science  of  Educa- 
tion, and  instance  the  fact  of  the  wide  variation  of  views  of  noted  edu- 
cators on  simple  problems  of  Education.  But  just  here  is  the  mistake. 
There  are  no  simple  problems  in  Education.  The  human  soul  is  of  such 
infinite  worth  and  complexity  of  organization,  that  any  attempt  to  un- 


16 

derstand  it  well  enough  to  direct  its  development  requires  the  highest 
efforts  of  the  most  gifted  minds.  The  problem  of  the  artisan  is  simple. 
The  beam  is  precisely  15  feet,  6|  inches  in  length  and  can  be  measured 
again  and  again,  and  its  strength  of  resistance  under  given  conditions 
can  be  determined  with  mathematical  exactness.  But  this  complex  of 
will  and  intellect  and  emotion — this  moving  panorama  of  passion — of 
love  and  hate  and  fear  and  joy  and  purpose  and  plan,  which  consti- 
tutes the  soul  in  action — this  is  never  simple.  It  is  the  glory  of  our 
profession  that  its  themes  and  its  problems  employ  the  highest  order 
of  human  thinking  and  planning  and  the  highest  art  in  execution.  It 
is  because  of  the  infinite  worth  of  human  life  in  its  cultivated  aspects 
that  education  is  worth  while.  It  is  only  on  the  high  ground  of  a  pro- 
found working  belief  in  the  eternal  verities — a  belief  in  the  existence 
of  a  personal  God  and  the  immortality  of  the  individual  human  soul 
that  any  Science  of  Education  worthy  of  our  attention  is  possible.  It 
is  this  profound  belief  in  the  goodness  and  greatness  of  humanity,  its 
capability  for  immortality,  that  makes  me  have  a  passion  for  teaching. 
This  it  is  that  makes  me  feel  that  it  is  a  privilege  to  be  allowed  to  try 
to  develop  in  the  young  the  possibilities  that  God  has  put  into  them. 

In  view  then  of  the  fact  that  the  child,  who  starts  life  as  ignorant 
and  irresponsible  self-activity  has  for  his  destiny  intelligent  self-control 
and  self-direction,  the  teacher  should  see  and  know  how  these  great 
principles  of  education  affect  her  work  in  daily  details.  Through  the 
yeaYs  I  have  tried  to  show  many  applications.  I  have  tried  to  show 
that  the  real  interest  of  pupils  should  be  engaged  in  their  lessons,  both 
in  the  recitation  and  in  study.  I  ;have  tried  to  show  that  an  idea  mas- 
tered (by  a  child  gets  most  of  its  value  from  the  associations  which 
have  attached  themselves  to  the  idea  during  its  mastery. 

In  one  of  our  standard  Geographies  occurs  this  sentence:  "The 
port  of  New  York  is  one  of  the  greatest  commercial  centers  of  the 
world  and  includes  the  cities  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Jersey  City  and 
Hoboken." 

Let  us  observe  the  result  of  two  kinds  of  teaching.  Both  teachers 
have  assigned  the  lesson  including  this  sentence.  The  first  teacher 


17 

calls  upon  a  child  to  recite,  and  because  at  first  he  does  not  recite  it 
readily  she  reproves  him,  and  in  order  to  emphasize  her  displeasure 
asks  him  suddenly  what  a  port  is.  The  boy  readily  acknowledges  that 
he  does  not  know  and  if  he  is  again  reprimanded  for  not  knowing,  de- 
spite the  fact  that  the  teacher  herself  has  a  very  hazy  idea  of  what  a 
port  is.  The  <boy  by  this  time  has  already  tried  twice  to  sit,  hoping 
that  the  remainder  of  the  teacher's  tirade  will  fall  upon  some  other 
pupil.  The  teacher,  however,  asks  him  to  stand  till  he  is  excused,  and 
on  his  failure  to  stand  straight,  she  commands  him  to  let  go  of  the 
desk  and  stand  in  the  aisle.  When  he  has  finally  complied  with  those 
requests  she  proceeds  to  ask  him  why  this  is  called  the  port  of  New 
York,  instead  of  the  port  of  Brooklyn  or  the  port  of  Jersey  City.  He 
admits  his  ignorance  again.  Then  the  teacher  asks  him  what  is  meant 
by  a  Commercial  Center.  Again  the  boy  is  uncertain,  but  thinks  it  is 
because  ships  or  trading  vessels  load  or  unload  there.  The  teacher 
now  tells  him  he  may  be  seated  and  she  expresses  the  hope,  in  a  hope- 
Hess  tone,  that  next  time  he  will  get  his  lesson  better  and  not  have  to 
take  up  so  much  time  of  the  class,  etc.,  etc.  During  this  performance 
there  has  been  growing  up  in  the  boy's  mind  a  semi-conscious  belief 
that  it  does  not  matter  much  what  a  port  is,  that  a  commercial  center 
has  no  particular  relation  to  his  life  interests,  that  Geography  is  a  dull 
study  with  no  relation  to  use  or  pleasure  and  that  his  teacher  has  a  pick 
at  him,  and  that  on  the  morrow  he  will  go  fishing. 

The  second  teacher  begins  in  much  the  same  way  and  the  pupil 
stumbles  in  much  the  same  way  as  in  the  first  recitation.  But  how  dif- 
ferent the  procedure  from  this  point.  The  teacher,  having  prepared 
her  lesson  in  view  of  the  self-active  nature  of  the  child,  wishes  to  en- 
list the  will  and  interest  of  the  pupils  in  the  mastery  of  this  really  com- 
plex idea  of  the  port  of  New  York.  She  has  already  seen  that  the 
words  of  this  sentence  must  be  made  to  carry  a  meaning  in  order  that 
they  shall  be  readily  memorized.  At  this  critical  moment,  therefore, 
she  presents  to  the  class  a  picture  of  the  harbor  of  New  York.  This 
picture,  cut  out  of  Harper's  Weekly,  shows  the  narrows  and  the  broad 
bay  above.  A  single  sentence  or  two  shows  how  all  vessels  entering 


18 

here  are  safe  from  wind  and  wave  while  they  load  and  unload.  A  quick 
movement  by  the  teacher  shows  another  picture  with  vessels  at  the 
wharf,  while  a  well-directed  question  which  can  be  answered  by  a  look 
at  the  picture  calls  attention  to  the  character  of  the  goods  being  un- 
loaded. A  guess  or  two  from  pupils  as  to  where  these  goods  come 
from,  heightens  interest;  but  the  scene  is  again  shifted  to  a  picture 
which  shows  in  one  glance  the  upper  bay  of  New  York  with  the  adja- 
cent cities  clustered  around  this  one  body  of  water,  and  the  meaning 
of  Commercial  Center  is  apparent.  By  this  time  questions  come  from 
pupils  as  well  as  teacher,  and  in  the  course  of  -the  answers  the  exis- 
tence of  the  Custom  House  in  New  York  is  made  plain,  and  the  real 
meaning  of  port  is  seen.  Also  the  reason  why  it  should  be  called  the 
port  of  New  York  has  become  apparent.  The  large  number  of  vessels 
shown  in  the  pictures  indicates  the  greatness  of  >the  traffic,  while  the 
different  kinds  of  goods  being  unloaded  from  different  ships  and  the 
different  flags  floating  from  the  different  mastheads  show  the  different 
countries  involved  in  the  (traffic,  while  a  mere  query  as  to  what  those 
vessels  may  carry  on  their  return  trip  calls  up  to  mind  the  immense  re- 
sources of  our  own  country.  The  great  cost  of  the  ships,  the  many 
men  needed  to  manage  them,  the  countless  thousands  of  people  en- 
gaged everywhere  in  manufacturing  these  articles  so  they  may  become 
articles  of  merchandise — all  these  things  receive  passing  notice,  etc., 
etc.  All  these  things  impress  in  a  semi-conscious  way  the  mind  of  the 
pupil  till  it  dawns  on  him  how  it  is  that  co-operation  of  immense  num- 
bers enables  each  of  us  to  secure  for  himself  more  comforts  in  life  than 
the  millions  of  Rockefeller  could  command  for  him  without  the  help  of 
his  fellows.  Not  only  has  this  fundamental  principle  of  co-operation 
been  thus  forcefully  borne  in  upon  him,  but  other  associations  have 
also  attached  themselves  to  this  idea.  The  boy  has  had  pass  through 
his  mind  the  thought  of  what  a  pleasant  companion  his  teacher  would 
be  on  an  excursion — he  has  begun  to  see  the  vital  relation  of  Geogra- 
phy to  daily  living,  thinks  he  would  like  to  read  about  the  countries 
from  which  all  these  things  come,  and  wonders  if  he  cannot  get  some 
books  of  travel  from  the  public  library ;  and  he  has  already  determined 


19 

that  when  he  is  a  man  he  will  see  all  these  countries  whose  ships  enter 
our  harbors,  and  when  at  last  ithe  teacher  requires  him  to  recite  the 
sentence — even  many  times,  so  that  it  may  be  uttered  trippingly  on  the 
tongue,  every  repetition  comes  with  meaning  in  it,  till  at  the  close  of 
the  recitation  the  boy  is  a  new  being,  anxious  for  another  glimpse  in 
the  Geography  to  see  what  comes  next.  * 

One  of  these  boys  has  this  day  moved  a  long  step  on  his  way  to- 
ward the  street,  indifference,  neglect  of  duty,  truancy,  the  workhouse, 
and  the  penitentiary.  The  other  has  taken  a  long  stride  toward  a  hap- 
py and  useful  citizenship — interested  in  human  affairs,  having  broader 
sympathies,  being  more  sane  in  judgment,  more  cordial  in  friendship, 
more  industrious  in  school,  more  agreeable  in  the  home.  This  differ- 
ence of  trend  has  taken  place  in  two  boys  because  of  the  differ- 
ence of  treatment  in  regard  to  the  same  sentence  in  Geography — be- 
cause one  teacher  took  the  trouble  first  to  understand  boy  nature  and 
then  to  prepare  to  teach  the  boy  in  accordance  with  his  nature  and  des- 
tiny. It  all  occurred  in  less  than  ten  minutes,  but  the  effects  are  per- 
manent and  the  difference  increasingly  magnifies  itself  as  the  years  go 
on — all  on  account  of  the  difference  between  two  teachers.  I  have  not 
exaggerated  this  case.  I  have  only  stated  one  of  its  highest 
degrees.  I  have  seen  it  occur  in  many  intermediate  de- 
grees. So  it  is  throughout — whatever  in  school  is  done  in  accordance 
with  the  nature  and  destiny  of  the  child  is  done  well  and  tends  toward 
life;  whatever  is  done  in  violation  of  the  nature  and  destiny  of  the  child 
is  done  poorly  and  tends  toward  death.  In  every  lesson  and  every 
hour  of  the  day  the  guiding  ideas  are  just  two — First,  what  is  the  na- 
ture of  the  child  as  he  is  now,  and  second,  what  ought  he  to  become 
when  he  grows  to  maturity.  Surely  the  question  of  how  to  make  every 
item  of  knowledge  which  we  teach  him  tend  to  develop  him  into  what 
he  ought  to  become — surely  the  study  of  this  is  worthy  of  the  most 
earnest  efforts  of  the  most  gifted  minds. 

I  might  give  countless  illustrations,  but  all  would  tend  to  the  same 
end.  When  I  came  here  our  unclassified  schools  were  thought  of  as 
places  of  detention  for  incorrigible  boys.  I  have  tried  to  have  them  be- 


20 

come  places  where  boys  are  transformed — where  new  hopes  are  crea- 
ted, where  boys  are  shown  how  much  they  lose  by  having  gotten  out 
of  harmony  with  the  school  society  from  which  they  have  been  ex- 
pelled— a  place  where  boys  shall  be  made  to  feel  this  loss  and  wish  to 
get  back  into  their  community,  that  they  may  receive  the  benefit  of  so- 
cial co-operation.  I  have  tried  to  have  teachers  receive  back  these 
boys  in  this  spirit,  glad  that  there  has  now  been  developed  in  them  a 
gleam  of  appreciation  of  the  advantage  of  the  regular  school.  And  yet 
I  have  known  a  teacher  to  walk  across  the  hall  to  another  teacher's 
room  on  the  first  day  of  the  return  of  such  boy  to  warn  the  other 
teacher  what  a  particularly  bad  boy  he  was  last  year.  Why  not  let  the 
boy  have  a  fair  chance  ?  He  will  be  bad  enough  anyway.  He  will  prob- 
ably fall  again,  and  may  be  sent  back  to  the  unclassified  school  a  time 
or  two;  but  if  every  time  he  comes  back  with  even  a  temporary  change 
for  the  better,  something  has  been  gained. 

But  I  am  drawing  this  out  to  a  great  length.  A  very  few  more 
points  and  I  must  close.  All  this  focalizes  itself  at  two  points — shows 
its  worth  by  success  in  two  things — in  the  results  of  teaching  by  the 
teacher  and  in  the  results  of  study  by  the  pupils.  It  is  a  great  thing  to 
comprehend  what  it  really  is  to  teach.  The  inter-play  of  forces  be- 
tween teacher  and  child,  involving  comradeship  of  thought,  the  blend- 
ing of  feeling  and  the  contest  of  wills — those  of  the  teacher  always  so 
much  clearer  in  thought,  nobler  in  feeling  and  stronger  in  will  that  the 
child  is  transformed  by  the  contrast — this  is  teaching.  It  is  of  two 
kinds — individual  teaching,  when  the  mind  of  the  teacher  explains  or 
encourages  or  dominates  the  mind  of  one  pupil  and  organic  when  the 
mind  of  the  teacher  causes  such  a  blending  of  thought  and  feeling  and 
volition  among  the  members  of  the  class  that  each  mind  receives  an 
inflow  of  power  from  the  contagious  influence  of  comradeship  with 
other  minds  of  like  age  and  condition.  The  teacher  should  be  engaged 
all  the  school  day  in  one  or  the  other  of  these  exercises — 'teaching 
some  one  child — clearing  up  some  confusion  or  correcting  some  error 
or  encouraging  some  effort;  or  she  should  be  engaged  in  organic 
teaching,  i.  e.,  teaching  several  minds,  blending  them  into  organic 


21 

action.  The  better  the  organic  teaching-  is  done  the  less  individual 
teaching  will  be  needed.  In  general  'the  individual  teaching  as  well  as 
the  organic  should  be  done  with  the  section  that  is  reciting.  The  time 
of  the  other  section  should  be  sacred  to  study.  The  child  should  study 
during  his  study  hour  without  expectation  of  help  from  anybody.  He 
is  to  try  to  master  his  lesson — difficulties  and  all — himself.  The 
teacher  should  be  busy  teaching  the  other  section.  If  the  teacher  is 
intelligent  and  inspiring  the  study  will  eventually  become  efficient.  Do 
not  forget  that  the  study  of  books  is  an  acquired  power.  Even  some 
of  us  have  not  yet  acquired  it  in  high  degree.  Children  should  be 
shown  how  to  get  sentences  and  phrases  separated  from  one  another, 
and  how  to  settle  the  thought  successively  upon  them— repeating 
many  times.  Then  the  teaching  done  by  the  teacher  upon  this  same 
matter  should  confirm  the  results  of  the  study  and  prepare  the  way  lor 
further  study — thus  we  alternately  study  and  recite — each  supplement- 
ing the  other  in  happy  succession.  At  each  recitation  the  teacher  sees 
the  new  power  that  has  come  into  the  mental  life  of  the  child  since  the 
last  recitation — the  new  sense  of  achievement — the  greater  confidence 
and  readiness  to  take  up  new  problems  and  conquer  new  obstacles. 
And  thus  the  miracle  goes  on, — the  transforming  of  the  ignorant,  in- 
nocent, immature,  volatile  child  into  an  intelligent,  moral,  steady, 
thoughtful,  serene,  mature  person.  How  can  you  think  of  these  things 
without  having  born  in  you  a  holy  enthusiasm  for  your  profession  and 
a  real  passion  for  teaching! 

But  I  have  preached  too  long  already.  A  few  words  of  explana- 
tion and  parting  and  I  am  done.  When  I  was  invited  to  take  the  office 
of  Superintendent  of  Instruction  in  Cleveland  the  federal  plan  school 
law  was  still  quite  new.  It  had  been  in  operation  but  two  years,  and 
the  question  still  remained  unsettled  whether  it  would  in  the  end 
realize  the  hopes  of  its  friends.  I  felt  that  a  crisis  had  come  in  the  his- 
tory of  education  in  this  country.  The  law  was  so  radical  that  many 
of  us  had  fears  that  the  change  was  too  great  to  be  backed  up  by 
public  sentiment.  That  the  trend  was  in  the  right  direction  none  of  UP 
doubted.  But  should  it  prove  that  after  trial  teachers  should  prefer  to 


22 

have  their  work  judged  by  the  old  time  school  board,  and  would  rather 
trust  their  interests  to  the  care  of  the  old  time  school  board  rather 
than  to  an  educational  expert,  then  I  believed  a  great  blow  to  sound 
progress  would  have  been  struck.  If  it  should  turn  out  that  the  tre- 
mendous concentration  of  power  in  the  hands  of  one  man  should  be- 
come obnoxious  to  the  general  public,  no  more  legislation  of  its  kind 
could  be  had  even  in  more  moderate  form.  On  the  other  hand  should 
the  administration  of  this  law  be  temperate  and  therefore  satisfactory 
to  teachers  and  the  public,  then  other  cities  would  follow  with  like  leg- 
islation, embodying  the  best  elements  of  our  law  in  their  school  codes. 
While  I  did  not  believe  myself  the  best  person  in  the  country  to  do 
this,  I  did  happen  to  be  the  one  that  was  invited  to  do  it;  and  I  knew 
that  no  one  would  bring  to  the  work  any  greater  d'evotion  than  I,  or 
be  more  willing  than  I  to  make  personal  sacrifices  in  its  interest.  I 
finally  concluded  to  try,  and  so  I  came  to  Cleveland  to  accomplish  two 
ends,  all  minor  hopes  and  plans  and  purposes  being  included  in  these, 
viz.,  (1)  To  administer  this  radical  school  law  which  gave  to  the  Su- 
perintendent of  Instruction  the  unheard-of  power  to  appoint,  promote 
and  discharge  teachers  without  interference  from  anyone,  in  such  a 
spirit  of  moderation  that  at  the  end  of  a  series  of  years  the  teachers  of 
the  city  would  say  that  their  interests,  and  therefore  the  interests  of  the 
schools,  had  been  better  conserved  than  had  previously  been  the  case 
under  the  old  itime  form  of  school  board;  and  (2)  To  see  if  I  could  in 
this  way  so  carry  on  the  schools,  exercising  this  autocratic  power  with 
sufficient  tact  and  wisdom  so  that  at  the  end  of  a  series  of  years  the 
general  public  would  support  the  administration. 

The  test  has  been  made  and  the  record  is  in.  The  teachers  as  a 
body  have  stood  loyally  by  the  administration,  and  have  shown  a  trust 
and  confidence  that  have  been  astonishing  and  gratifying.  They  have 
shown  thait  they  would  rather  'have  their  work  judged  professionally 
than  politically.  The  patrons  of  the  schools  have  approved  the  man- 
agement. The  active  enemies  of  the  schools — those  who  would  have 
exploited  the  schools  and  the  teachers  for  private  profit — have  been 
relegated  to  oblivion.  Many  other  cities  have  modified  their  school 


23 

laws,  taking  from  ours  many  of  its  best  and  most  advanced  ideas  and 
incorporating  them  in  theirs.  It  is  recognized  everywhere  that  the 
law  is  substantial  progress  over  anything  that  had  preceded  k  in  this  or 
any  other  country. 

I  felt  that  the  time  had  come  to  make  up  the  record,  balance  ac- 
count and  make  absolutely  sure  of  this  new  chapter  in  educational 
history.  I  regardjt  as  a  great  achievement  for  civilization.  It  is 
world  history.  You  ought  to  be  proud  that  you  have  been  a  part  of  it 
and  largely  responsible  for  its  success.  I  felt  .that  the  way  to  make  it 
absolutely  sure  was  for  me  to  sever  my  connection  with  the  schools 
at  this  fortunate  moment,  so  that  whatever  happened  to  me  could  not 
in  any  way  connect  kself  with  this  experiment  or  lessen  in  any  way  its 
significance.  Nor  could  then,  anything  that  might  happen  to  the 
schools  thereafter  tarnish  in  any  way  this  decisive  chapter  of  educa- 
tional history.  At  the  -time  I  had  reached  this  conclusion,  the  sky  was 
clear  and  the  sailing  was  fine.  Clouds  'have  since  come  over  the  sky 
and  a  storm  may  break  upon  the  ship,  but  there  is  now  every  evidence 
that  the  blow  will  be  light.  Let  us  hope  that  the  Ohio  Legislature  will 
incorporate  the  best  elements  of  the  federal  plan  school  law  of  Clveland 
into  a  State  School  Code.  But  whatever  may  happen  (temporarily,  the 
real  advance  'has  been  made ;  and  the  good  people  of  Cleveland  do  not 
intend  that  any  permanent  retrograde  movement  shall  be  allowed  to 
set  in. 

As  for  myself,  I  shall  feel  the  separation  keenly.  Your  comrade- 
ship has  been  dear  <to  me.  I  shall  never  lose  my  interest  in  you  or  the 
schools  and  people  of  Cleveland.  I  have  suffered  much  for  the  sake 
of  the  ends  to  be  accomplished.  If  I  might  be  allowed  to  paraphrase 
scripture  I  should  say  I  have  fought  a  hard  fight — I  have  tried  to  keep 
the  faith — If  I  have  won  the  crown  of  your  approval  I  shall  try  to  wear 
it  with  becoming  modesty  and  deep  appreciation. 


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